Encephalopathy associated with influenza A

We report a 3-year-old boy with influenza A virus-associated encephatopathy. The diagnosis was based on clinical findings, magnetic resonance imaging, repeated isolation of influenza A virus from nasopharyngeal aspirate and seroconversion between acute and convalescent sera. The clinical picture was characterized by fever and aphasia followed by seizures and a rapid deterioriation of consciousness 2 days later. This patient illustrates that influenza A-associated encephatopathy with severe neurological deficit can occur with atypical distribution of brain lesions during the course of the illness, while initial brain MRI and laboratory findings of cerebrospinal fluid are normal, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. (C) 2004 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.